A Snoggletog Carol
by KateMarie999
Summary: Hiccup just doesn't feel festive this Snoggletog season. But all that is about to change when he is visited on Snoggletog Eve by a few of his friends who seem to be convinced that he is a selfish old man who needs to be taught the true meaning of Snoggletog. Very loosely based on A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens.
1. Chapter 1

_Obligatory text so that the title is centered._

**A Snoggletog Carol**

******Original Book by Charles Dickens**  
Idea by Kim  
Originally written by much younger amyboomerang and KateMarie999  
Rewritten by KateMarie999

* * *

_I'd like to give credit where credit is due. First off, special thanks to Charles Dickens for the inspiration for this story. Second to my best friend since fourth grade, amyboomerang. Long ago, she and I (and a third friend neither of us speaks to much anymore) wrote a very similar story for a different fandom. I used a lot of the same elements (and a few of the same lines of dialogue) for this story. You'll be getting an update every Wednesday in December leading up to Christmas!_

_~KateMarie999_

* * *

**Chapter One**

The weather had turned bitterly cold but the island of Berk became festive as another Snoggletog approached at last. The youngest members of the village put up their stockings in anticipation for Odin's arrival on Snoggletog night. Even those in the academy felt festive.

"Time to bust out the decorations!" Astrid Hofferson exclaimed excitedly, straining as she carried a very heavy box full of little lights and wreaths.

"We've never decorated the arena before." said Fishlegs with a grin. "It should be fun."

"I can hang the lights on the top of the arena _without_ Hookfang." Snotlout said, winking at Astrid, who rolled her eyes.

"You might have to." Fishlegs added. "Remember? This is the time our dragons all go to Dragon Island to have babies. Isn't that right, Meatlug?" he put his arms around his dragon.

"What about you, Hiccup?" Astrid asked as she began to untangle a string of lights. "You've been uncharacteristically quiet."

Hiccup, who had been engrossed in the Dragon Book, raised his head and registered the fact that his peers were now attempting to decorate the academy. He smiled grimly.

"Sorry, Astrid. I guess I'm just not in the mood." he said with a shrug.

"Oh really?" Astrid asked, crossing her arms and giving him her best intimidating stare.

"Yeah. I don't know what it is. I guess I'm not very… jolly this year. You might want to stay away from me." Hiccup focused his attention back to his book.

"_I'm_ jolly." Snotlout said, suddenly leaning against Astrid and holding some kind of plant over their heads.

Astrid automatically punched him in the face.

"Come on, Hiccup, we've got all the lights and stuff here. Maybe you'll feel festive when you start putting it up." she suggested, looking slightly concerned.

"I don't think so, Astrid." Hiccup said, not looking up from his book. "I'll stick around but just carry on without me. Really, it's okay. In fact, if you want Toothless to help you out, go right ahead and take him. Be sure to get him back home by nightfall."

The Night Fury perked up at the mention of his named and cooed at the boy.

"Well… if you're sure…"

"I'm _sure_, Astrid."

The note of finality in his voice convinced the Viking girl that he meant what he said.

* * *

Snoggletog Eve came at last and Hiccup was uneasy. At first, Astrid had nearly stalked him throughout the village, holding mistletoe above their heads at one point (he didn't kiss her, which she seemed to find incredibly surprising). But for the last few days, she had stopped trying to cheer him up. In fact, he had barely seen her at all. She seemed preoccupied with something but the grin she kept giving him when he did see her made him feel like he should be worried. Toothless had decided to fly off to Dragon Island with the others (after receiving the new attachment Hiccup had made) and so this would be a quiet Snoggletog Eve with his father.

Except his father was acting strange too. The chief had insisted that Hiccup go to bed a bit early instead of helping him with some of the housework. The boy wasn't sure what to make of this but he decided that it probably would be a good idea to get some more sleep. And so he traipsed up the stairs to his bedroom, climbed in bed, and fell asleep instantly.

"Hmm... This certainly tastes weird..."

Hiccup sat up with a start, scanning the room with his eyes until he saw the source of the voice sitting in the corner and making a face at a cluster of berries on his lap.

"G-Gobber?"

Gobber looked over his left shoulder, almost as if he thought Hiccup was talking to someone standing behind him. He turned back to the bewildered boy with a smile.

"Don't know who that is. I am the Ghost of Snoggletog Past!"

"Ohhh boy." Hiccup took a deep breath to calm himself. "Listen, Gobber, I'm not going to make a fuss about you sneaking into my bedroom in the middle of the night, which is, frankly, very creepy, but you don't have to play this game."

"I _love_ games!" Gobber exclaimed, jumping out of his chair and causing the berries to scatter all over the floor. "But I'm afraid that this is no game, Mr. Stooge."

"Stooge?"

Gobber's face suddenly became quite serious, frowning at Hiccup as though he had offended him. "You've been a very selfish man for all these years, never paying your workers fair wages."

"I don't pay anyone anything!" Hiccup threw up his hands, more confused than he had ever been in his life.

Gobber gasped in horror. "Nothing? Not a thing? You are so much more selfish than I thought. You've become someone who never shows love to his fellow man and spends no time with those who love him. You have had many sullied Snoggletogs, resulting in a bitter soul! But you were better off than you thought."

"I… I really don't know what you're talking about…"

"Come, Ever-Sneezer…"

"_Ever-Sneezer?_" Hiccup shouted, hoping the noise he made would wake his father. "Why did you just call me that?"

Gobber stared at him and raised an eyebrow, almost as if he was just as confused as Hiccup. "Because that's your name. Ever-Sneezer Stooge."

"Even when my friends go crazy, I'm still named after an involuntary reflex…" Hiccup muttered, rolling his eyes. "Gobber, this is ridiculous, it's Snoggletog Eve, let me go back to…"

"Give me your hand, Stooge." Gobber said suddenly, extending his hand.

"I… what?"

"Your hand. Give me your hand." he repeated.

Hiccup stared at the older man for almost a minute, his mouth slightly open. This had to be one of the weirdest dreams he'd ever had.

"Okay…" he said, thinking that he might as well play along for the heck of it. "I'll give you my hand if you stop calling me Stooge."

"What name would you like to take?"

"I'd like to take my real name, Hiccup, back."

"Well, then, Hiccup," Gobber said the name like it was a foreign word. "Give me your hand and we shall fly."

"Um… okay." Hiccup placed his hand in Gobber's and was suddenly yanked toward the window. He looked down the two story drop and pulled back.

"I'm sorry, I'm not suicidal." he said, now beginning to feel slightly worried for his friend.

"We shall fly." He was pulled forward again.

"Gobber, are you drunk? I'm not joking, I won't go, I- AHHHG!"

Hiccup suddenly found himself falling a great distance and landing hard on top of Gobber. The older Viking got up and dumped him onto the frozen ground. He groaned.

"See, that wasn't so hard, Hiccup!" Gobber smiled.

"What wasn't hard?"

"Flying!"

"That was flying?" Hiccup got up from the ground and gave Gobber a hard look. "That was _falling_!"

"Maybe that is what you mortals call it, but from where I come from, it's called flying." Gobber said, that irritating grin seemingly plastered to his face.

"Right. Because you're a ghost." Hiccup sighed and rubbed his upper arm, which he suspected would be bruised by the time this was over. "Now what?"

"Well now we take a little trip into the past. Come, Ever… I mean Hiccup." Gobber waved his arm in a grand gesture. "Off we go."

"You know…" said Hiccup as he jogged to keep up with the older man. "If you really are a ghost, how come you can't just float over to where we're going? And… and how come you're solid?"

Gobber gave him a long look and then grinned again. "It's too complicated for you to understand." he said.

"Yeah… or you're a terrible actor." Hiccup grumbled.

They stopped in front of what appeared to be Gobber's workshop. Hiccup reached out a hand to open the door when the older Viking slapped it back.

"Ah ah ah! We are observers only." Gobber snapped in an unusually sharp voice. "Look through the window."

"The window? Gobber…"

"The window, Ever-Sneezer!"

"It's Hiccup!"

"Right, sorry. Window. Now." Gobber grabbed the boy's shoulders and faced him toward the window.

It looked as though Gobber had redecorated his workshop to look like the inside of a residential home. A dining table was placed in the middle where two children, a boy and a girl, were playing. The little girl jumped under the table to hide as her brother ran past her, searching in vain for his lost sister.

A moment later a woman entered and set down some food on the table.

"Who eats this late at night?" Hiccup muttered as the family began to eat. He reached up to rap the window, but Gobber stopped him.

"No use bothering them, Stooge."

"It's _Hiccup_." Hiccup muttered. "My name is Hiccup!"

"So you've said." Gobber rolled his eyes and pulled Hiccup's arm sharply. "Come on," he said pulled the boy down the road.

"Wait, why did you show me the house?" Hiccup asked as they cut down another street.

Gobber sighed as he yanked the boy along with him. "I showed you the house so that you might know how your pitiful life was before dear Ms. Ruffy, to whom we shall see soon. What a gem."

"Was that supposed to be my family? Gobber, I don't have a sister or a mom, for that matter you know that… And who's Ms. Ruffy?" Hiccup asked, completely bewildered.

"Ms. Ruffnut. You used to call her Ms. Ruffy. She was your first love. Too bad money prevented your from marriage as you originally planned."

"_Marriage_? The only person I plan on marrying is… well never mind." Hiccup's face went scarlet for a second before he composed himself. "And _Ruffnut?_ There is no way I'd ever… we never… I don't even want to think about that!" he shuddered.

Gobber didn't respond to this, apparently deciding not to press the issue. He did shake his head slightly as they headed toward the Great Hall.

"Now... Here's your first job. The waiter at Tuffnut's. This was when you were twenty-something. This is where you met Ms. Ruffy." He said, gesturing to the window of the Great Hall.

"I… I'm only sixteen!" Hiccup exclaimed. "I've never been twenty anything! And I've never been a waiter either, I was a bit busy being your apprentice!"

But Gobber wasn't paying attention to him; he continued to gesture to the window so Hiccup, deciding that this wasn't a fight he wanted to pick, peered in. There was a party going on inside. The Hall was filled with people dancing and singing merrily. The Snoggletog lights twinkled in the background.

"Hey, that's Heather, isn't it?" Hiccup said as he spotted his friend wandering through the crowd. "I thought she was going to spend Snoggletog with her family."

"That is Shelia." Gobber sighed. "Now, what you should be looking at is yourself and that fine young lady in the back of the room." he pointed back to them. Hiccup shook his head.

"I can't see anyone through the thick crowd. I'm cold. Can't we just go in, or is everyone here a ghost too?" Hiccup asked, rubbing his arms.

"We can go in." Gobber replied, slightly insulted by Hiccup's lack of faith. "Come on."

They entered the room and were instantly hit with a wave of hot air. Hiccup rubbed his hands together numbly, trying to regain feeling in all of his senses.

Gobber didn't want to wait. "Come on," he muttered, tapping his foot impatiently, "let's go to the back and watch yourself and Ms. Ruffy up close."

Hiccup was hauled into the back area and sat in a chair gruffly by the older Viking. In front of him were two young people, one a very young man (though still older than Hiccup), blushing red, and the other was Ruffnut, who was wearing a fancy looking dress. They were standing within four steps of each other. They seemed to be trying to subtly impress the other.

"When the variable is in the box," one was saying, "there are always two solutions."

"What does that mean?" Ruffy asked "young Hiccup" as he announced this. Young Hiccup shrugged.

"I don't know. Fishlegs said it."

"What else did he say?"

"He also said the value inside of the absolute value is one solution."

"Nice." Ruffy smiled shyly. At this time the music started up and people started to dance. "Hey, do you want to dance with me?" She asked suddenly. Young Hiccup went bright red.

"Yeah, sure." He said and took her hand, leading her to the dance floor.

"That's a nice Snoggletog song." Gobber said as Hiccup began to pick out the words of the song.

"_Dashing through the snow in a one yak open sleigh… _Jingle Bells? They're dancing to _Jingle Bells_?" Hiccup wrinkled his nose. "Next you'll be telling me that it's a romantic song."

"Oh, it is," Gobber said fondly. "One of the greatest."

Hiccup gave Gobber a strange look. "I'll never understand you dead people."

"I'm a spirit." Gobber replied in a rumpled voice. "I never lived."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Hiccup yawned. "Is it bedtime yet?"

"No." Gobber snapped. "You're such an oaf."

"Oh, thank you for summing that up." Hiccup glared at the man and was promptly taken back out to the road.

"Do you want to get yourself smacked?" Gobber threatened as he yanked the man through the "Berk Past." Finally they got to a bridge.

"Here is the last trip I shall take with you." Gobber muttered into Hiccup's ear. "But this is a very important one. The day you threw dear Ms. Ruffy, your fiancée to the fishes." He muttered as he looked at the water running under the bridge. Hiccup, however, was looking around him.

"This is a flower park..." He muttered. "I wonder how the Snoggletog lights look."

"Pay attention to the bridge!" Gobber snapped.

"Good morning." A voice said. Hiccup looked up and saw a woman standing on the bridge, speaking to a man running to meet her. The man looked similar to Hiccup with slightly longer, spiky hair. He ran up to her, without saying hello and grabbed her wrist gently.

"Look, Ruffnut!" He stuck out his hand. "I finally got it in! My first payday! I got it from the business this morning. My partner and I - we're doing so well!"

"That's great, Stooge. But, Ever-Sneezer, I need to speak to you. I want to get married soon."

"But… but the business just began! Ruffnut, I need more time." "Slighty-Older Hiccup" took her hand gently. "I can't go now."

The girl burst into tears and pulled away from him and he stood insensitively on the side of the bridge and watched her. Hiccup marveled at Ruffnut's acting; he hadn't known she was so talented.

"Come on, Ruffy." "Slightly-Older-Hiccup" said quietly, using her childhood nickname. "I just need..."

"You keep promising me that we can get married soon, but you care more about your money than you care about me." She wailed. He stood uncomfortably, as if waiting for her to stop and be okay.

"Could you please...? Stop?" He asked, a little twitchy. She just sobbed harder.

"You HATE me!" She cried.

"No, no, I _love_ you." he took her gently by the shoulder. "I _love_ you. Understand?"

She broke away from him, still crying. "Then please let us get married and not worry about your money."

"But, we need something to... to fall back on!"

"You've got money, Stooge, its not like you're poor! Please, just let your partner handle the business for one day!"

"You know," Hiccup said from where he was sitting on a bench behind Gobber, "he looks a bit like my neighbor's nephew... Actually, he looks a lot like him..."

"Stooge, he's _you_."

"It's HICCUP." Hiccup snapped. "And I've never spoken to the nephew, so I've never really noticed him. I don't know who you are talking about!"

Gobber glared at him and walked towards the couple on the bridge.

"Listen," she begged him, "if you don't want to marry me, please, just tell me and then I can leave. I could marry anyone else. Even the owner of the little store down the road. Then you can make your money in peace." She was venomous. Stooge was offended.

"You dare to… fine! Go marry the owner of the little store down the road! He deserves a beast like you!"

Stooge stormed away from the bridge and Ruffnut turned red in the face. Taking her ring off her finger, she threw it into the water, which rippled in the light of the street lamps. Hiccup stared at this scene, completely bewildered. This had to be the weirdest dream _anyone_ had ever had. Who was this Stooge person? And had Gobber and the others gone mad?

"Well, that was a lovely excursion, may I go home now?" Hiccup asked as the two people disappeared.

Gobber glared at him. "Fine, Stooge, but it is time to go home. Take my hand and…"

"We're not going to fly again, are we?" Hiccup asked skeptically.

"Yes."

"No thank you, I'll walk." Hiccup stood up and moved away from Gobber.

And then, quite suddenly, everything went dark.


	2. Chapter 2

_I see a lot of you enjoyed that last update. I read it out loud to my friend who helped me write the original and she was able to pick out exactly which lines I kept from our old story. If you think my writing style is a little different, that's probably why but it was stories like those that prepared me for writing my other stuff!_

_Enjoy chapter 2!_

_~KateMarie999_

* * *

**Chapter Two**

BAM.

"Ouch..." Hiccup rubbed his head quietly. He was lying in the middle of his bed, and had been sleeping directly under the headboard. When he had twitched, he had rammed the front of his head on the headboard, which had awakened him with a start.

He sat up, rubbing his eyes and trying to get a clear vision of his room just to make sure there were no more strange visitors. Suddenly, he heard a noise just outside and he got up and padded quietly to the door of his bedroom. Peaking between a small crack in the door, he saw a figure coming up the stairs. He stepped back and prepared to attack the intruder, taking up a small wooden club.

The door creaked open and Hiccup swung the club, and then…

"Oy!" A bright light filled the room and the second voice of the night, his father, was standing by the light on the door, rubbing his arm where Hiccup had struck him.

"Oh! I'm sorry dad; I thought you were an intruder." Hiccup placed the club on a chair next to the door and walked to Stoick, looking apologetic.

"I didn't know you were paranoid, Hiccup." Stoick said with a small smile.

"I'm not... usually. I just had a long night. Some guy who looked and acted an awful lot like Gobber, but said he wasn't Gobber, came and got me and we flew out the window."

Stoick gave his son a very confused look. Then he glanced at the bedroom window.

"The window's locked, Hiccup." he said.

"What?" Hiccup asked, incredulous.

He looked over to the window and was surprised to see that it was, in fact locked. How had that happened? Had it been a dream?

"Just go back to bed, son. It was probably just a dream." The large Viking led him back to the bed. After he was sure Hiccup was lying down, he left the room, going to his own bedroom and leaving his son to rest. Hiccup fell back on his pillow and closed his eyes. He was so tired...

* * *

BWAM, BWAM.

Hiccup sat up in bed suddenly and looked for the source of the noise. There was another loud slamming noise and a moment later there was someone at his window.

"Let me in!"

"Astrid?" Hiccup got up and opened the windows. "Astrid, what are you doing here?"

Astrid crawled in the window and got onto the floor. She looked at Hiccup with an odd expression on her face.

"Who is Astrid?" she asked him.

Hiccup sighed deeply. "If this is about that ghost thing…"

"Oh then you know me!" Astrid exclaimed with a smile. "I am the Ghost of Snoggletog Present!"

"Oh come _on_, not this again…"

"I am here to show you the Snoggletog Present as you wish it!" Astrid said dramatically.

"As I wish it?"

"Yes. And we shall have to go great distances and must fly across Berk."

"WHAT?! No. No flying! I am putting my foot down." Hiccup swung out of bed and tried to push Astrid toward the door to his room.

Astrid punched him on the shoulder very hard.

"Owww… why would you…"

"Come along, Stooge! And if you doubt me again, I'll make sure you regret it." Astrid gave him a very intimidating look.

"I am not flying, I already did that tonight, thank you very much." Hiccup crossed his arms and tried to give Astrid an intimidating glare of his own.

Astrid immediately grabbed his arm and yanked him to the window. Hiccup tried to put up a fuss loud enough to awaken his father but it was to no avail as he was suddenly making the two story drop out of his bedroom once more.

Except this time it was a bit different. The drop took longer and when Hiccup landed just under Astrid, he noticed that he wasn't in pain this time. He looked up just in time to see a gigantic cloth tied to Astrid fall on both of them, plunging them into darkness. Before Hiccup could move, he felt Astrid's knee in his back as she hastily got off of him in a way only _his _Astrid would after being in such a compromising position with him. He smiled to himself.

"Well that wasn't so bad." He said, more to himself than to Astrid. "Why didn't Gobber have one of those?"

"Gobber?" Astrid asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "I don't know who that is. Now the Ghost of Snoggletog Past didn't have one of these because he's from the past. I'm from the present where technology has improved. Now come on." She grasped his upper arm and yanked him down the road.

"Where are we going now?" Hiccup asked, running to keep himself from slipping and causing her to fall on top of him.

"We must go visit your poor co-worker in which you don't pay enough." Astrid replied, still pulling him in the direction of Snotlout's house. "We're here to observe his Snoggletog with his eight kids."

"I don't work with anyone who has any kids! Astrid come on, this has gone far…"

Astrid punched him once more and continued to nearly drag him to the house. When they arrived, they stopped and looked in.

"Um... This is Snotlout's yard and he's fine in the money issue... He's not dying or anything..."

"His name is Crackit. Bob Crackit." she led Hiccup to the side of the house and found a window to peek through. "Just look at those poor people."

Hiccup looked through the fogged up window a saw that the inside room had been completely changed to look "poor." Snotlout was sitting on a stool next to a make-shift fire place and there were several children racing about the room.

One of the children suddenly jumped up on Snotlout's lap and he grabbed the stool with one hand and the kid with the other, terrified of dropping the child on his head. A moment later, the door opened and Heather came in, balancing a tray in one hand and holding a struggling baby in her other arm.

"Get the kids, would you, Bob?"

"Bob... I can't believe this..." Hiccup muttered.

Snotlout replied with sudden (and uncharacteristic) obedience and carried one of the little kids who had tackled him and gently pointed the rest in the way. After a moment he went over to a chair in a corner of the room where Gustav, who Hiccup finally found in the room, was completely immersed in playing with something.

"This is _weird_…" Hiccup muttered, watching his friends act completely out of character.

Just then, a little girl hobbled out of another room, clinging to some sort of makeshift crutches. Hiccup followed her with his eyes until she reached the table.

"Who is _that_?" he asked, pointing to the child.

"Ahh that… that is Mini Magnus. She is very ill but they cannot afford a healer because of the meager wages you have paid your co-worker." Astrid explained.

"Yeah, about that," Hiccup spoke quietly, "why is it that such a poor family can afford this house?"

Astrid didn't seem to have an answer to that. After a moment she spoke again. "They were able to inherit this house from a loving relative who pays for the home for them. They are going into considerable debt."

Hiccup nodded slowly. "Sure they are." he muttered.

Snotlout, Heather, and the children all sat down, prayed and began to spread out the meager food to eat. Hiccup could figure that they were just attempting to create a depressing scene for him to watch. He suddenly burst out laughing and sat down on the ground next to the building.

"What's so funny, Stooge?"

"It's just... so ridiculous..." He laughed a bit more.

"You are truly a cruel man, Stooge, to laugh at Crackit's suffering."

Hiccup cracked up some more.

"Listen, Astrid, I don't need this tonight. You are a joke to me, I am sorry." He guffawed, knowing full well that he would deserve the smack he received.

He got his smack. "I am not Astrid, I am the Ghost of Snoggletog Past!"

"I didn't know you were such a good actress!" Hiccup picked himself on up off the ground and patted the "ghost" lightly on the back. "But, if you don't mind, I am going home now."

"Not quite yet, we need to visit one other place." Astrid grabbed Hiccup by the shoulder and led him down the dank, icy streets. Hiccup groaned but followed a ways until they arrived at another well lit house. Astrid walked up to the door and opened it, walking through it without looking back. Hiccup followed a moment later.

The house was Gobber's, oddly enough. Clearly he was in on this if he was willing to lend them his house, workshop, and acting talents.

"Why are we at Gobber's house?"

Astrid gave him an exasperated look. "We aren't. We are at your nephew's house."

"My nephew? I don't even have any siblings!"

"Yes you do. And your nephew's name is Frank."

"I'm not related to anyone named Frank!"

"Look, there he is." Astrid pointed across the room.

Hiccup followed the hand and stared at the figure in surprise. It was Fishlegs. He was dressed in fancy pants and a red sweater.

"Fishlegs is my nephew?" he asked incredulously, staring at his friend.

"His name is Frank."

"He's a month older than I am!" Hiccup replied in horror.

"You're mistaken. He's twenty years younger than you!"

"I'm not 36!" Hiccup replied in horror. "How many times do I have to tell you that I'm only 16?"

"You're just embarrassed. You're 65."

"No I'm not! That's more than four times my age!"

"Live with it." Astrid snapped. "And how do you keep yourself looking so young? That is the question."

"I don't age." Hiccup deadpanned, rolling his eyes.

"You're immortal, then? Certainly not a gods-fearing man if you think you have power over the nature of man the gods created."

"I meant it sarcastically." Hiccup said, getting slightly annoyed.

"That would be a good thing, then." Astrid replied in a stuck up manner.

She walked towards the food table with an upright back and a high head and promptly took a seat in a chair far from Hiccup. He followed her at a distance and squatted on the floor next to the chair.

"So, what am I meant to see here?" He asked, trying to smother the ghost's rumpled feelings.

"Just watch." Astrid replied calmly.

A moment later, "Frank" made an announcement.

"Welcome, dear guests! Welcome to this marvelous Snoggletog Eve party. My wife and I hold a party of this type every year, but as of yet, we have to meet such stamina and enthusiasm!" He paused while the group laughed. "It is a marvelous thing, Snoggletog, a time to spend with family and friends. I always invite everyone I know, even my dear uncle Stooge. However, just like every other year he has refused, declaring me a bum and Snoggletog a humbug. But little does he know he's the only humbug in the vicinity!"

There was more laughter as the people chuckled at the stingy man that was well despised in the area. Fishlegs went on with his speech as Hiccup turned to Astrid.

"Is this really how people think of me?" Hiccup asked. Then he caught his mistake. "I mean Stooge?"

"For a moment there I thought you were regaining your identity, but you stick to your story... yes, that is how people think of you, Stooge, a miser who wallows in misery and prefers to hide from the good things of life."

"Hide? I was going to spend a quiet Snoggletog with my dad! I just wanted to do that!"

"Your father died decades ago!"

"I just saw him before I started running around and spying on people with you." Hiccup groaned. "It doesn't matter; I know I'm not crazy."

"Its good you know, I'm not so sure of it."

Hiccup shot Astrid a strong look as if challenging her to repeat that statement. Astrid ignored him and placed her attention back on Fishlegs and the guests. Then she spoke again.

"I am getting old." she said. "I shall have to leave you soon."

"You're younger than me, Astrid. What are you talking about?" Hiccup asked. The ghost had fallen silent.

The party was getting riotous at this time. People were lying on couches watching vigorous dancers.

"Astrid?" Hiccup asked suddenly as the music started up louder and fancier than before.

"I'm the Ghost of Snoggletog Present."

Hiccup rolled his eyes once more. "Whatever. Can I ask you a question?"

"What?"

"Why are you guys doing this to me?"

"Because, Stooge, we want to teach you about Snoggletog. And to do that, you must see how you can change things." Astrid replied.

"Oh." Hiccup sat in silence for a moment. "What am I supposed to learn here?"

"How much your family loves you."

Hiccup was silent for a moment. "If they love me, why do they constantly make jokes about me? Behind my back no less!"

"Because they do not understand you, nor do you let them."

Hiccup was silent for a moment. "Sheesh…" he said after a moment, "you people make it hard to remember my name is Hiccup!"

The party went on for a bit before Astrid wheezed quietly and stood. "I think it is time to go."

Hiccup stood at the door before stepping out, watching the ghost's back. In the background behind him he heard Fishlegs speak again.

"Despite his attitude, I love my Uncle Stooge." He said. "He's not a bad person once you get to know him."

"Know him?" someone asked. "What's to know?"

"A lot." Fishlegs replied.

This was the last thing Hiccup saw before the world blacked out before him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

* * *

Hiccup sat up. He was in a grave yard near the Great Hall. There was a very tall man dressed in black standing by a head stone. He was singing a sad, wordless song that haunted the air.

Hiccup looked around him. He was lying on a plot of a grave with a covered head stone. He fit exactly on the plot with a bit of head room and some space to spread his arms.

"Who's there?" He asked, looking at the strange man. "Dad?"

The man sang his mournful song without words, never paying attention to the boy.

"What do you want from me?" Hiccup was trying not to be terrified about this but it was becoming exceedingly difficult.

The song continued, hitting an all-time high note. Hiccup winced and crouched down to protect his ears.

"STOP," he yelled, "STOP SINGING!"

The voice stopped and an even more unsettling silence floated through the land.

"What are you trying to say to me?" he whispered. The person looked at him harshly.

"You're the Ghost... Ghost of Snoggletog Future... Aren't you?"

The person nodded. Hiccup's stomach turned within.

"Who are you, really? Tuffnut? Snotlout? Gobber? Who are you?"

The creature floated over like his feet weren't touching the ground. He stood before Hiccup, towering over him, with a blank blackness for a face.

"Ye enter here Stooge," he said slowly in a haunting, empty voice. "With no hope. Look yonder at the stone at the foot of the grave under the sycamore tree."

Hiccup crept to the grave that was newly dug. There was a name on it. "Magnus Crackit."

"Mini Magnus? She died?"

"Her bad leg had a disease infecting it, and yes, she did die. Her family is left in mourning for today is the anniversary of their beloved daughter's death."

Hiccup saw Snotlout and Heather floating towards him. They were dressed in black and they looked downhearted.

The two knelt, seemingly oblivious to Hiccup's presence right next to the grave.

"Spirit," Hiccup said, "what can I do to change these things?"

"Much. Look at the second grave, the one just finished."

Hiccup looked over at it. The light from street lamps dimly shone on the stone. "Ever-Sneezer Stooge" was written in deep, capital letters across the hard stone.

"No. No, I cannot be dead!" Hiccup wailed, shocked. He fell to his knees by the footstone. "Wait." He said suddenly. "I'm not Stooge, I'm Hiccup!"

"You are Stooge and you have died." The tall man announced.

"No! No! Spirit!" Hiccup called. "I can't be dead, let me do it all again, please! I can change! Spirit! Spirit!"

But as his words came vainly from his mouth he fell backwards into the grave, faces swimming before him. He swung his hands madly, trying to catch the wrist of one person to hold him up. As he felt himself black out, he thought he heard voices coming from the tall man… strange, argumentative voices…

* * *

"Hiccup! Hiccup, wake up!"

Hiccup felt himself being shaken awake. He blinked and the world slowly came into focus. His father was sitting next to him, a strange expression on his face.

"Augh! Dad, I just had the worst dream!"

"I guessed." Stoick replied. Then as Hiccup's eyes cleared he saw the rest of his friends standing around him.

"Yeah. It was horrible. And you were there," he said, looking at Gobber, "and you were there," he looked over at Snotlout, "and you," he smiled at Astrid, remembering the conversation at the party room, "and," suddenly the fullness of the situation came to Hiccup. The setting became clear. "Wait a minute, why am I in the Great Hall?!"

His friends began to laugh at his confusion as he lay there, mouth agape.

"Wait a minute! This was all a _joke_?" he snapped, suddenly feeling very indignant.

Snotlout thumped him on the back. ""Did you learn something from your 'dream'?"

"Yeah, you all are crazy!" Hiccup shouted. "What in the world got into all of you? Why would you do something like that?"

"It was my idea." Astrid piped up. "And I couldn't think of any other way to get you in the Snoggletog spirit!"

Hiccup stared at her for a second. He had never been so livid with his friend in his entire life. "What the Hel kind of joke was that? You know what? I don't care! Clearly nobody cared enough to just leave me alone."

"Hiccup, what are you…?"

"I need some air. Don't anyone follow me!" Hiccup shouted, getting to his feet.

He immediately mounted Toothless, who he found staring at him with wide eyes in the corner (obviously having returned from the dragons' yearly outing). The dragon made an odd cooing noise before taking off.

The others stared at the boy and dragon's retreating forms. The sun was beginning to come over the horizon, beginning what was probably going to be a very beautiful day but no one noticed.

"What's gotten into him?" Snotlout asked, frowning and crossing his arms.

"I don't know." said Astrid, her brows furrowed in determination. "But I'm going to find out."

* * *

_I'm so sorry for the extremely short chapter. Next one will be longer and be posted on Christmas!_

_~KateMarie999_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four**

* * *

It took a long time for Astrid to find her friend. She hadn't been expecting him to fly off into their usual spot; she figured that would be too easy. But then again, Hiccup had a tendency to be predictable. Perhaps he had figured that she wouldn't think to look in the most obvious place. Either way, she found him on the cliff they liked to share, his foot and prosthetic dangling off the ledge. He didn't seem to notice her until she was in danger of running into him. He flinched slightly, causing Astrid to chuckle and direct her dragon so that she didn't harm the boy. She hopped off of Stormfly, who was busy greeting Toothless, and sat down next to Hiccup.

"All right, you've been alone." she said quietly, as if there was a sleeping baby nearby. "Now you need to talk to someone."

"I don't need to talk to anyone, Astrid, why do you never listen to…"

"Stop being ridiculous. It was a harmless prank and it took forever to set up. The Hiccup I know would have found it as funny as we did. So out with it. What's wrong?" Astrid nudged her friend in the side and he shot her a surprisingly angry glance.

"Do you need to meddle into my personal business? Can't you just leave it alone? All I wanted was…"

"A quiet Snoggletog with your dad. Yes, I remember. We _all_ remember. But why? Snoggletog is a time for family and community and you were really into it last year…"

"That's because of the dragons. I've never been festive on Snoggletog but no one bothered to notice!" Hiccup snapped.

They sat in silence for a while, Astrid mulling over this new information. She tried thinking back to Snoggletogs in the past but she was drawing a blank. Had she seen Hiccup? Had she noticed him? Of course she hadn't. He was the bumbling son of the chief and she went out of her way to avoid him. Of course she wouldn't have noticed his lack of interest in the holiday. No one would have noticed. She felt like kicking herself.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Hiccup." she said, feeling genuinely remorseful. "I didn't know. Is there a reason?"

"Well… yeah." Her friend replied, staring down at his knees.

She wasn't going to press him for information. Not after his outburst. She felt like she was dealing with a particularly volatile Terrible Terror. One wrong move and she would be on fire. She didn't want to have to deal with an angry Hiccup any day but Snoggletog seemed a lot worse. Anything horrible that happened seemed to be exacerbated when it happened near a holiday. This was something that she and Hiccup would learn the hard way in exactly eleven years time but that is a story for another day.

Finally, unable to take the silence any more, Hiccup turned to his friend. She looked beautiful despite her rather windswept appearance. And she, of all people, could definitely keep a secret.

"My mom loved this holiday." He admitted. "She would get really into it. I don't know if you remember that. I barely remember it. But I do remember her singing a lot. I remember that she couldn't carry a tune to save her life but it never stopped her." He sighed deeply, not making eye contact with Astrid. "I just… really miss her. I can ignore it for the rest of the year but this time brings it all back."

Astrid sat in silence for a while. Here was a part of him that no one knew and she wasn't sure how to approach it. She knew she would keep his secret but what could she say? She knew what it was like to lose a parent but her father certainly wasn't the kind of person she had wanted around even when he was alive…

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry." she said at last. "I didn't know."

"I know you didn't." Hiccup looked up at her and gave her a small smile. "I guess it _was _pretty funny. I shouldn't have overreacted."

"Well I might have been a little upset too. At least for a while." Astrid smiled back at him.

"I'm still not feeling jolly, you know. But I have to admit, that was really elaborate. How did you pull it off?" he asked, scooting himself a bit closer to her.

"Now that's a long story."

"_All right, everyone, we don't have much time before Snoggletog to get Hiccup excited about it. I know we don't have our dragons with us right now so we're just going to have to come up with something we humans can do ourselves." Astrid explained, glaring at everyone in the room so they knew she meant business. _

"_Do we have to cheer him up? I mean he hasn't been annoying at all over the last few weeks! Why would we want to change that?" Snotlout grumbled. _

_Astrid nodded to Ruffnut, who punched him in the shoulder. Snotlout rubbed his upper arm, scowling at them both._

"_I was thinking I could make the yak-nog again and maybe..."_

"_NO!" shouted all of the others at once._

_Astrid looked rather disgruntled at the outburst but decided not to comment on it. She would save her revenge for later when she made the signature drink using the recipe she'd spent the entire year perfecting and then wouldn't let anyone have any._

"_Look, I want this to be a Snoggletog Hiccup won't ever forget. But I really don't have any ideas." She stared around the room and received blank looks in response. "This is where you guys come up with ideas."_

_As usual, no one was paying much attention to what she was saying. And, for some reason, it was more annoying than it usually was; perhaps Hiccup's presence softened her somewhat, but Astrid felt like taking out her anger on someone. And that unfortunate someone was Fishlegs, who had his nose in a book and wasn't paying attention to a word anyone was saying._

"_I'll take that." Astrid snapped, snatching the book out of Fishlegs' hands. "Now, as I was saying…" but suddenly, she stopped and looked down at the book in her hand. "A Snoggletog Carol…"_

"_Yeah!" Fishlegs exclaimed. "It's a classic! It's by Darles Chickens, my great-grandfather, and it's about this guy named Stooge who is visited by… why are you smiling?"_

_Astrid tossed the book to Fishlegs, who caught it with a horrified look (how could she almost damage a precious book?) and stared at everyone, a glimmer of mischief in her eyes._

"_I've got it. And this is going to be the best Snoggletog ever!"_

_Everyone exchanged looks. With Astrid at the helm, this project was certain to be interesting. Perhaps even dangerous. But, as they looked back at her and caught the look she was giving them, they were going to have to follow it through. No matter what._

Hiccup laughed as Astrid finished explaining. "So it was a book? Oh, that makes so much more sense."

"Yeah. I kind of thought you'd have read it. I mean you seem to _like_ reading." Astrid said, nudging him in the elbow.

"I do. I just hadn't gotten around to that one. I guess I'll have to now!" Hiccup chortled. "Okay so then what happened?"

"Well we had to tell your dad about it. That was an interesting conversation…"

"_You want to do what?"_

"_Play a prank on Hiccup! To make him happy again!" Astrid replied with enthusiasm._

_Stoick stared at the girl for almost a minute, trying to think of an appropriate response but coming up with nothing._

_Finally he settled on something simple. "How?"_

"_Well first we'll climb into his window and then throw him out of it. But it's okay, he's fallen from long distances before, he'll be fine." Astrid explained cheerfully._

"_You're not really selling me on this idea…"_

"_And then we'll stage these elaborate skits to make him think he's an old man who hates Snoggletog and then he'll want to change and become festive just in time for the holidays!" Astrid finished. _

"_Astrid…" Stoick sighed deeply. "I'm going to put this as delicately as possible… are you out of your mind?"_

"_Of course not! This is a foolproof plan based off of a Snoggletog classic! There's no way this could possibly go wrong!" Astrid seemed to be gushing with excitement. "So will you help us? All you have to do is act like nothing is going on and that it's all a dream!"_

"_Convince my son he's delusional. That sounds familiar." Stoick sighed again, thinking very hard. "You're sure this is going to lift his spirits?"_

"_You will see a new Hiccup on Snoggletog morning! I guarantee it!" she looked up at him, her face nearly shining with enthusiasm._

"_Oh… all right. I'll tell him it's a dream. But I'm not going to be part of any of your little skits. For the record, I think this is a ridiculous idea." Stoick waved a hand to signal the end of their conversation and Astrid skipped merrily away._

"That's my dad. Always the one with common sense." Hiccup sighed in a way that vaguely reminded her of his father. "So that's why he didn't give me any housework to do."

"Yep. We had him check to make sure you were asleep before we let Gobber into your room. He was _really_ enthusiastic about the project. He wanted to club you over the head to knock you out but Fishlegs created this really potent stuff that would knock you out so fast, you wouldn't even realize it was happening." Astrid scooted a bit closer to him so that their hands were almost touching.

"You know, in the last bit with the future ghost, I thought I heard voices a few voices coming out of him."

"Oh yeah…"

"_What are you doing? Don't put your bony butt all over my shoulder!"_

"_Your shoulders are bony, there's no way to get comfortable!"_

"_Maybe you just need to drop a few pounds!"_

"_I'll drop a few pounds off of you!"_

_Astrid punched the tall, hooded man. The top half stumbled backward and very nearly fell off the bottom half._

"_Could you be any louder?" she whispered in irritation._

"_Yeah. But why would you want us to?" asked the top half._

"_I don't… ugh. Look, just stick to the script. Hiccup is going to wake up any minute…"_

"_What's the script again?" asked the bottom half._

"_Easy. As soon as Hiccup comes near us, we punch him in the face." The top half snickered._

"_Oh. I like this plan!"_

"_That's not the… oh gods, am I going to have to go over this again? Tuffnut, you sing the song we rehearsed." Astrid said in a hurried voice, hoping that Hiccup would stay unconscious a little longer._

"_You mean the weird one without words? Why? Aren't we supposed to get him in the Snoggletog spirit? Why can't I sing Odin is Coming to Town?" Tuffnut complained from the lower half of the man._

"_Because it's supposed to be creepy. We went over this!" Astrid dearly wanted to raise her voice but that would definitely wake up her friend._

"_Fine, fine. This is stupid." Tuffnut grumbled._

"_Yeah. And where are the cookies you promised us?" Ruffnut asked. "I already did that stupid thing with Hiccup's neighbor."_

"_I told you the cookies will come after you do this last thing. Ugh, why did I ask the twins to do this?" Astrid groaned to herself. _

"_Because we're natural thespians!"_

"_Eww, speak for yourself!"_

"_Shut up!" Astrid hissed. "I think Hiccup is waking up!"_

Hiccup actually laughed at this story, his foul mood soon forgotten. Astrid smiled and, without realizing it, took his hand.

"It really was a lot of work." she said with a contented sigh. "But I think it was worth it. Do you think you're up to going to the Snoggletog party at Gobber's?"

"A real one or am I still a 65 year old miser?"

Astrid punched him in the shoulder, causing him to laugh some more. They got up and mounted their dragons. Then, just as a gentle flurry was beginning to descend upon them, they flew off into the steadily rising sun.

* * *

A few hours later, Hiccup began to forget that he wasn't feeling cheerful about Snoggletog. Everyone seemed to regard him as a bit of a hero instead of the butt of a very elaborate prank. This was the first time in recent years that he wasn't the recipient of the first pie in the face of the yearly pie fight. It was a tradition at all Snoggletog parties yet no one could quite pinpoint the reason. It was sort of like dunking new fathers on the head with freezing water or lining up to punch someone on their 47th birthday. These traditions had a purpose long ago but no one knew what it was.

Coated with several layers of pies, Hiccup's laughter soon became infectious. It was almost impossible to stay gloomy at this party and the others knew it. Perhaps the plan worked in its own little way.

Soon the mistletoe was brought out. Gobber held it over Stoick and Lotus' heads. They looked very surprised at being the first to be put on display but then shrugged. Stoick kissed Lotus on the cheek and, to everyone's immense surprise, she giggled and blushed.

"Ugh, that's disgusting." Hiccup said, sticking his tongue out. "My dad and your mom? That's never going to happen."

"It better not!" Astrid replied, her eyes wide.

The mistletoe was passed around and couples with varying levels of embarrassment kissed each other. Soon, Snotlout was holding it over Fishlegs and Ruffnut's heads.

"You have to kiss her, come on!" he cheered, laughing maniacally.

"I… I can't…"

"Oh don't be such a baby!" Ruffnut rolled her eyes, grabbed his face, and brought him in for a very passionate kiss. When she pulled away, he gasped for breath and turned beet red. "See? Nothing to it!"

Fishlegs seemed to disagree but he smiled in a good natured way. Ruffnut grabbed the mistletoe and made a beeline to Hiccup and Astrid.

"Come on, Hiccstrid! Show us a little action!" she shouted very loudly so that everyone could hear.

"_Hiccstrid_?" Astrid narrowed her eyes. "What the Hel…"

"Yeah, it's what I'm calling you from now on since you're like _always_ next to each other."

Astrid grabbed the front of Ruffnut's shirt and brought her very close to her face. "If you call us that again, I will punch you in the face!"

"Well would you rather I called you Ast-cup?"

Ruffnut was reeling backwards seconds later with a bruise on her left eye. Astrid turned to Hiccup as if this interruption hadn't happened at all.

"Now, back to business." she said with a mischievous grin.

She suddenly leaned forward and kissed him for nine seconds (he counted and then mentally kicked himself for having done so). He smiled as he watched her grab the mistletoe and seek out some other couple, trying to ignore the loud heartbeat in his ears. He wanted to grab her and kiss her again for what she had done for him. She had reminded him of the true meaning of Snoggletog. That family wasn't just biological, it ran deeper. And as he looked around the room at the people whose friendship he held most dear, he realized that most of his family was there for Snoggletog that year. He needn't have been depressed at all.

His smile widened as he muttered a short prayer. "Gods, bless them. Every one."

* * *

_I hope you enjoyed this final installment! I'm glad this story was such a hit! Thanks for reading!_

_If you want to read about Hiccup and Astrid's tumultuous and terrifying Snoggletog referenced in the story (the one that happens eleven years later), take a look at my story __Little Miracles__. Of course, it would behoove you to read __Unexpected__ first but technically, that's optional._

_**MERRY CHRISTMAS!**  
As I post this final chapter, I am praying that all those who read this are blessed in this coming year. I have so much to be thankful for and the fact that people actually like the stuff I write is definitely on that list! Thank you for making the second half of my year a little bit brighter with your reviews and support!_

_All right, I've been mushy enough. Have a wonderful Christmas, whether you celebrate it or not. And Happy New Year!_

_~KateMarie999_


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